‘RELIGION is a horrid thing,” Mark Mercer declared to his audience, an assembly of mostly grey or greying folks like himself who had gathered in a classroom at Saint Mary’s University to hear a debate on religious celebration in secular society.

The tenured SMU philosophy professor in red Chuck Taylor high-tops was the sole atheist panellist at the Dec. 6 debate, which he helped initiate.

“Not just the institutions of organized religion,” Mercer continued, reading from an editorial he wrote for the Ottawa Citizen in early December. “They, certainly, are horrid. But I mean as well religious beliefs, attitudes and practices.”

Three other panellists — a reverend, a minister and a rabbi — listened skeptically. At the opposite end of the table, within arm’s reach of minister and journalist Kevin Cox, sat a shoebox-sized nativity scene — a tiny baby surrounded by wise men, shepherds, angels and his mother, all in a manger.

Religion, Mercer argued, depends on self-deception and contempt for evidence, it requires believers to assume inferior roles to worship a superior power, and it involves the idea that everything happens for a reason — God’s plan, for example — meaning even suffering and sorrow are justified by that plan. For these reasons and others, he concluded, religious observance should be removed from government institutions.

Private citizens and groups should retain the right to practise religion, but secular institutions such as universities and state bodies should not, Mercer said.

“Municipal governments, for one, should not themselves be sponsoring religion.”

For the most part, state bodies in Nova Scotia do not include religion, but overlap does exist. The provincial legislature, for instance, mandates a reading of a shortened version of the Lord’s Prayer, despite MLA Howard Epstein sparking a heated debate in 2001 over its inclusion. Halifax regional council, too, asks for guidance from “God, our creator” at the beginning of each weekly meeting.

More visible, perhaps, is a towering Christmas tree in the public arena of the Grand Parade, a Christian symbol that an Ontario judge ordered removed from her courthouse six years ago. The tree, she told the Toronto Sun, suggested to non-Christians that they are “not part of this institution.”

Some would argue the Christmas tree is a secular symbol, and Mercer would agree. But what about other Christmas symbols?

Each year, a plywood nativity scene appears on Saint Mary’s property, and a prayer is recited at the school’s commencement. These prompt semi-annual emails from Mercer to university president Colin Dodds.

Universities are places of critical thinking and reason, and further, SMU receives government funding, Mercer has pointed out electronically for the past six years.

As for prayer in government bodies, “It excludes atheists, agnostics and other non-religious folk,” and in the case of the Lord’s Prayer, maybe some religious folk, too, he said.

Why make the nativity scene an issue at all, asked Cox, the panellist who placed one he brought from home on the table in front of him. The scene has significance and meaning, he said. Unlike prayer in government meetings, he added later in the debate.

Cox surprised himself by agreeing with Mercer that prayer should be removed from government meetings.

“Strangely enough, I would agree, but for a totally different reason: I don’t think they mean it. I think they’re just going through the motions.”

Cox doesn’t think it’s a bad idea for governments to recognize a power greater than them, but in his years covering legislatures as a journalist, he’s never seen a representative pray with gusto.

“It was like, let’s get through this,” he said during a reception after the debate.

New Mayor Mike Savage hasn’t completely memorized the council invocation yet. The first time he recited the non-denominational prayer, it reminded him of the one he used to say in Parliament as a Liberal MP.

“In terms of prayers, I thought this one was pretty good,” Savage said. “It has a lot of words in it that I like, like community and wisdom and caring and generous.

“As I understand it, it has the approval of the Multicultural Association of Nova Scotia. So I don’t have a problem with it.”

Municipal government should be careful to include those with different beliefs, Savage said, but he doesn’t think council’s prayer is offensive to anyone.

He disagreed that council might be going through the motions. He said the prayer does have meaning.

“I think it’s very sensible for deliberative bodies of elected officials that there be a moment of reflection and consideration of the importance of the work that we do.”

If it’s not doing any harm and no one’s offended, leave the prayer alone, panellist Rabbi David Ellis added after the debate. Ellis said he was told to keep quiet when the issue of the Lord’s Prayer in the legislature came up more than a decade ago.

“I’d just started my job and didn’t want to lose it then. I don’t care if I lose it now,” he joked.

“Believe it or not … I am in favour of that tradition and I don’t think it should be changed.”

Today, Epstein still believes religion doesn’t belong in government institutions. Instead, he thinks councillors and MLAs should be given a moment of silence to marshal their thoughts, religious or otherwise. But Nova Scotia is slow to change, he said.

“I suspect if it changed in other provinces first, then people here might feel more comfortable moving ahead with the change.”

Change may come slowly in government, or not at all, but this year at Saint Mary’s, the nativity scene didn’t appear.

“Sadly, there are very few Christmas decorations up at all,” he said. “Just a Christmas tree in the Homburg Centre and the signed banner in the Atrium.”

As much as Mercer believes religion is horrid, he thinks secular Christmas is essential, because a healthy society needs common reasons to celebrate.

Saint Mary’s faculty received holiday season cards from the university president this year instead of Christmas cards.